The Devil You Know
by Leanbh-Dorchadas
Summary: Coreen's health is slowly improving. A threat to Henry and Vicki's territory and relationship could force them to choose between risking her life, or losing her forever. Continued from Sleeping Beauty.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Oooookay. It has been a very, very long time since I've written anything. This is an idea that popped into my head after I got a message about my fic recently. It continues on from "Sleeping Beauty", and probably if you haven't read my series yet some of it won't make sense! Anyways, I hope you like, and as always, reviews are much appreciated. I don't own BT, by the way!

The office was darkened, save for the light of a single desk-lamp. The two desks in the office were both occupied, one by a dusky blonde, the other by a raven-haired younger woman who was fast asleep, her head resting on the desk. Henry stood in the doorway, quietly observing his lover as she read a book. He smiled, knowing that she could sense him there, as he could sense her, and that she was finishing the paragraph she was reading before she closed the book and gave him her total attention. Finally, her eyes lifted from the page and she smiled over at him. As she did so, he could feel her affection wash over him through their connection. He sighed, needing no words to respond in kind.

"How was she today?" He asked, keeping his voice soft.

"She was alright. She's still so weak, and it's...disconcerting." Vicki replied, her tone weary. Coreen had been in high spirits that day, but Vicki could see the strain on the young woman's face when she thought she wasn't looking, and the passage of time had only made it harder and harder for Vicki and Henry to handle Coreen – it had been a month, and still no memories of her time working with Vicki had returned.

"I know...I guess we're lucky it's been a slow month. I'm glad to hear she was well. And how was your day?" He asked, quietly making his way to her side.

"It was ok. A few suspicious spouses, that's all. Have you eaten yet?"

"I..." Henry began, but was interrupted by the sound of Coreen waking.

"Ohmygosh, Vicki, I'm so sorry! What time is it? Oh, hey Henry." Coreen blurted, her tone and features relaxing as she realised her boss wasn't mad.

"It's a little after 8pm, and I keep telling you not to feel bad about needing your rest. Why don't you call it a night?" Vicki said, trying to ignore the pang she felt at knowing her assistant probably wouldn't want to hang around.

"Sure. I'll see you in the morning. Night, Henry." Coreen gathered her things and made a hasty exit. Henry watched her go, a troubled expression clouding his features.

"I know," Vicki said, pre-empting his as yet unspoken comment, "we should have told her. I hoped her memories would have come back by now, or at least some of them..."

Henry placed a consoling hand on Vicki's back, rubbing soothing circles over the soft cotton of her shirt. "And now all she has are the nightmares. I know. Her heart is sounding stronger, though. That's good, at least."

"Yeah, it's getting back to normal. Her check-up last week was good, she said. She took Diane..."Vicki tried hard not to look grumpy about this particular point, but she knew Henry would be able to tell anyway. Coreen had been spending more time with her friends her own age. While Vicki couldn't argue that it was exactly a bad thing, she certainly felt left out and a little hurt, despite the fact that Coreen couldn't remember their friendship.

"It's quite the predicament. Perhaps we should begin to nudge her in the direction of her previous supernatural interests, re-introduce her slowly to our...situation. She needs to know if she's going to continue working here – it's unusual that we haven't gotten any...interesting...cases in so long, and that luck won't hold forever." Henry said, trying not to sound preachy. He had known from the first moment that it was a bad idea to lie to Coreen, and yet there hadn't seemed to be any other course of action. As time had passed, the young goth's memories had not returned of their own volition, and it had become more and more difficult to inform her about the times she couldn't remember.

"Maybe...for now I guess all we can do is hope that our luck holds case-wise, and try giving her a nudge in the right direction." Vicki said, rising from her seat and returning the book to one of the cluttered shelves in the office. "Anyways, you never said if you'd eaten yet?"

Henry grinned, allowing his fangs to run out. "I haven't, actually..."

Vicki grinned right back, her smile no less predatory despite the lack of fangs, Coreen momentarily forgotten as she thought of other, more pressing matters.

XXXXXXXXX

The young boy screamed in rage, tearing his fangs from the torn neck of the woman. He hated what he had become, hated what he had to do to survive. He pushed his disgust aside, flinging the body easily into the deserted alley. He could feel her presence, feel an inexplicable pull to go to her, but he ignored that. He would never go back to her, that _**thing**_, who had ruined his life with the promise of betterment. She had promised him the world, and instead had taken his life and deserted him when he proved too 'troublesome'. Well he was going to show her that he could not, _**would**_ not, be ignored, and expose her to the world for what she was; evil, a monster, a vampire. Oh yes, she would pay for what she had done to him.

Alexander grimaced, knowing that dawn was coming soon. He would have to return to his makeshift sanctuary for the day. Tomorrow night, he would search for her, scope out her current shoot. It was convenient, at least, that she couldn't sense his presence; he thanked God, if there was such a thing, for that, at least. When her end came, she wouldn't see it coming until it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Again, I don't own Blood Ties. Thanks so much for the reviews, I'm really glad you guys are liking the premise...

Her dark tresses blew out behind her as she strode confidently down the street. Her thoughts were chaotic, a result of being in _**another**_'s territory. She prayed he hadn't sensed her yet, before she had time to set the scene. He was always one for drama, and she took perverse pleasure in providing that for him, from time to time. She caught the eye of a handsome, suited gentleman as she passed, showing some teeth as she smiled at him. She had fed the night before, though, and she was very nearly late for her appointment with the beautiful Gabrielle. She had to get Henry's attention, and what better way than to leave him a little gift...

XXXXXXXXXX

Vicki tossed and turned restlessly, trying to fall asleep. Henry had left hours ago, and still she hadn't managed to get to sleep. She felt as though she had forgotten something important, or as though something was wrong but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Sighing, she rolled out of bed. Maybe she could get through the day with coffee instead of sleep. Hell, she'd done it before, and she could do it again.

She showered and dressed, taking the time to apply some light makeup. Arriving at the office, coffee and donuts in hand, she found that Coreen was already there, tidying away the various bits of detritus that somehow managed how build up daily on each of their desks. She recalled Henry's suggestion from the night before, and wondered how, exactly, she was going to give Coreen a nudge toward the occult and arcane.

"Hey, Coreen. Coffee?" She extended the tray to offer Coreen one of the steaming cardboard mugs.

"Sure, thanks, Vicki. Is it decaf?" Coreen asked, waiting for a nod from the older woman before taking the beverage. "I know it's a pain, but you know, caffeine's out til the heart's fully recovered." Coreen smiled sheepishly before sipping the decaffeinated coffee.

"No problem. Hey, I was thinking. You know all that occult stuff you were into?"

"What about it?" Coreen asked, her expression blank as she attempted to figure out where Vicki was going with this.

"Well I just remembered last night that you left a lot of books and supplies in the storage closet. You used to leaf through them at work, I guess." Not too far from the truth, Vicki thought. "I was thinking maybe if it's quiet today you might go through your things, see if there's anything you'd like to take home. It'd be great to have some more room in there. Would you mind?" Vicki bent to look through her desk drawers for a pencil, waiting to see if her nonchalant tone had convinced Coreen.

"Sure, no problem. I haven't really looked at any of that stuff since...since I came home. I guess there's been so much other stuff, y'know? I'll take home as much as I can today, maybe finish up tomorrow. That ok?" Coreen helped herself to a Boston Cream donut to go with the coffee.

"Of course. Take your time." Vicki smiled to herself; she had done as much nudging as she could for now, hopefully Coreen's interest in the supernatural might be re-ignited. After that, the topic of Ian's death could be broached delicately. Once Coreen understood that vampires were not a threat (at least, not the local one), they could even explain about her and Henry. Vicki shook her head, trying to put the idea out of her mind – that was a long way away. Hopefully, though, they had made a start toward that end.

XXXXXXXXXX

Henry awoke for the night, taking a sharp, deep breath. Immediately, he was on the defensive. Something didn't smell right; he could smell death. He slid stealthily from his bed, moving swiftly toward the scent of already-beginning decay. It was...outside his door? He frowned, grabbing his door handle and pulling. The body fell inward and, despite his shock, he automatically caught it before it hit the ground. He could sense no others around the hallway; if the body had been discovered there would be police everywhere. He quickly pulled the body inside the door of the condo to examine it. Laying her down gently on the ground, he could see she had been beautiful. A silk scarf was wrapped around her neck, and, given her state of undress, he realised that was odd. He pulled it off, revealing messy bite marks.

"Oh no..." He breathed, realising what this meant. There was _**another**_ in his territory, and this was clearly a message that said 'watch out'. He hastily planned how he would dispose of the body, checking it over for any identifying evidence that could lead back to him, before gathering his things. He had work to do.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mike sat in his office, sipping lukewarm coffee and reading the same paragraph of an incident report that he had been for the past half hour. He couldn't concentrate on it, couldn't force his mind to take it in; he'd been working for ten hours straight and had the distinct feeling that it was at least one hour too many.

"Good evening, Detective. I hope I'm not interrupting you." Mike's features contorted into a grimace at the sound of Henry's voice.

"What the hell are you doing here, Fitzroy?" Mike glared up at the vampire. His last encounter with Henry and Vicki hadn't exactly ended well, and he had no desire to deal with this _**thing**_, this monster who had changed Vicki and, essentially, taker her away from him.

"I need your help. Vicki is...back to normal, by the way. Just in case you were wondering."

"You need my help? What is it this time, huh? Another demon, a goblin, a ghost? A killer unicorn?" Mike wearily took another sip from his coffee, grudgingly admitting to himself that Henry wouldn't be here if it wasn't serious. That didn't mean Mike had to _**like**_ helping, though.

Henry moved into the room, careful to close the door quietly behind him. He sat in the chair opposite Mike, the sheer anger and menace he felt seeping through into his expression. He looked livid.

"There is another vampire in Toronto. They left a body outside my apartment, detective, and that seems to me to be a pretty serious message. If this other vampire wants my territory, everyone I care about is in grave danger. I _**will not**_ have another of my kind running rampant this way."

"There was a body outside your apartment? Why didn't I hear about this?" Mike asked, before closing his eyes and continuing, "Of course. No cops with you, huh. Damn it, Fitzroy, what the hell do you think I can do for you? Why haven't you gone to Vicki with this?"

Henry's eyes flashed dangerously. "I _**will not**_ have her involved in this. Until we know who we are dealing with, I won't even consider it. I need to know who this girl was, maybe try to retrace her movements and figure out who did this."

Mike nodded, understanding Henry's want to keep Vicki safe. It was foolish of Henry to hide this from her, but could Mike really say he would do anything differently? Absolutely not. "You got anything I can go on, here?"

Henry slid a photograph across the desk; the photo could easily pass for a coroner's; Mike was impressed. Creeped out, but impressed.

"Gimme 24 hours. I'll run this, see if I can get an ID. We can go from there tomorrow. Will she...will Vicki be ok, til then?" Mike asked, not willing to look Henry in the eyes as he did.

"She will. I will take measures to make sure of that. Thank you, Michael." Henry rose from the seat, making a swift exit.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vicki could sense that Henry was agitated; she could tell, from a few moments after sunset, that all was not well with her vampire lover. Curious, she had nonetheless waited to hear from him – surely if there had been anything she could help with he would've called or come by.

"Still got your head buried in those books, Coreen?" She called to the gothette, knowing well that she was, indeed, still reading through her old spell books and demonology texts.

"Yeah...you know, something about these feels very...familiar. I feel as if I've already read them, a long time ago, and I can't quite remember what they're all about but...as soon as I read them it sort of...clicks, I guess. It's kinda weird. But good, right? I mean, something's actually feeling familiar..." Coreen said, her concentration still divided between the book and the conversation. Vicki smiled, glad that Coreen was getting something from the texts.

"Yeah, that is good." Vicki replied, not wanting to disturb Coreen too much; if she wanted to hang out and read, that was fine.

"Hey, what's an...Astaroth? Is that right? It came to me out of nowhere today and I forgot to mention it. I think I've seen it in one of these books..." Vicki struggled to keep her expression blank, wondering how, exactly, to respond, when suddenly she felt the warmth that accompanied Henry's presence nearby. He had finally come.

"Astaroth is a powerful demon lord. According to one of your books, his aim is to escape from Hell and rule over Earth." Henry said, his tone carefully devoid of emotion. His eyes, however, darted between the two women, and Vicki knew he was as shocked as her.

"Cool..."Coreen said, her attention already drawn to something she was reading. "Oh wow – I should probably go, get these books out of the office for you..." She made to get up, but Vicki put up a hand to stop her.

"You can stay and read if you like, I was gonna go for a walk with Henry, maybe get a bite to eat..."

"No it's fine, I'm pretty tired anyway." With that, Coreen placed the book carefully into a box full of similarly worn-looking tomes, and made for the door. "See you tomorrow, Vicki. Henry."

"Bye!" Vicki called to the young gothette's retreating figure. Her attention turned back to Henry as Coreen passed the threshold and out of sight.

"I can't, tonight, Vicki. I'm sorry. Something important has come up and...I have to work at home. I may be occupied for the next few days, in fact." Henry hated lying to Vicki, but he didn't want to see her in trouble, even if she could share his abilities.

"What's going on? I can feel that something's not right with you, and if I can help...?" Vicki said, moving to Henrys side and stroking his arm soothingly.

"Thank you, Vicki. This is something I need to take care of myself. I'll call, if I can't come to you. In the meantime, I want you to use some of my abilities; I want to know that if I'm not there you can take care of yourself no matter what happens." He leaned down, meeting her soft lips with his own and kissing her tenderly as he willed her to accept some of his vampire gifts. Strength, speed, and heightened senses; she would need all three should it come down to a fight.

Vicki broke the kiss, her expression confused tinged with a certain amount of frustration. "What the hell is going on with you?"

"I'll explain when it all blows over. For now, know that I love you, and I will return to your side as soon as I can."

"Love you, too, Henry...Be safe..." She watched as he left, sparing her a quick glance as he exited onto the street. This was highly, highly unusual behaviour, and she knew that something was very wrong if he felt the need to 'deal with it' on his own. On top of that, she was a little...no, a _**lot**_, mad. How dare he go behind her back, treat her as though she couldn't help as his equal, his partner, as she thought she was. She was going to find out what he was up to, and once she did, he would have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

XXXXXXXXXX

A/N: I hope the length makes up for the wait, guys. As always, I'd love to get your thoughts and opinions!


End file.
